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TiaiEl 



GREAT FALLS 



OF THE 



POTOMAC RIVER OF VIRGINIA, 



WITH ITS 



RESOURCES AND OUTLETS 



AS THE 



^•'^'^'^'jEmyFfiiiiifEiisu,.. 



^ 



AJv^DREW J. ROGERS, 

Washington, D. C. 



WASHINGTON. D. C : 

CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, •"jII NINTH STREET. 
187.*]. 



'^1 F?] 




T H E 

GREAT FALLS OP THE POTOMAC RIVER 

AS A 

MANUFACTURING CENTER. 



It is generall}' conceded that the Great Falls of the 
Potomac river is the greatest available water power in 
the United States; and the abundant mineral, agricultural, 
commercial, and other natural and artificial resources 
necessary to manufacturing purposes, renders it a most 
desirable base for the great manufacturing centre of our 
country. It is situated fourteen miles above the city of 
Washington, and elevated about 158 feet above the height 
of the inflowing tide at Georgetown. And in this con- 
tinued declivity there can be secured, at the several avail- 
able points, ample power for the most extensive manufac- 
tories. But the greatest amount of this power is concen- 
trated at the Great Falls where the river is nearly half a 
mile wide, and is divid-ed by a chain of islands located 
near its centre, thereby giving tw^o currents, respectively 
known as the Virginia and Maryland channels — the Vir- 
ginia being now the main stream. At this point, within 
the limits of the property owned by the "Great Falls Manu- 
facturing Company of Virginia," we have about 85 feet 
available fall with a flow of 2,100 cubic feet per second. 



which, uninteiTupted, is equal to 13,000 horse power, and 
sufficient to run 20,000 looms, aggregating 900,000 spin- 
dles, together with the necessary machinery for divers 
other branches of manufactures which can be carried on 
by the conjointed use of the same power without impair- 
ing the force requisite to cotton spinning and the like. But 
in order to supply the cities of Georgetown and Washingtongi^ 
with water, the United States has constructed 'a dam so 
penetrating the Maryland channel as to turn about one- 
eighteenth part of this tlow through the conduit for that 
purpose. This calculation is based upon the flow during 
the dry season, which never exceeds three months in the 
year, and applies especially to the volume of water flowing 
at the Great Falls, and shows what amount of power may 
be safely relied on thereat for cotton spining and the like, 
which usually requires power every day alike throughout 
the year. From the 1st of September to the 1st of June the 
flow is thought incalculable, and is so confined within the 
banks of the river as to furnish an inexhaustible power ; 
and our climate is such that we can continue operations 
throughout the entire year. 

So abundant is our supply of granite and other im- 
perishable building stone that the scientific enterprising 
engineer, who shall be provided with the necessary capital, 
will find little difficulty in constructing imperishable wa- 
ter l)asins, channels and races adequate to the perpetual 
conversion of this entire power to use at command. And 
as there is a continuous declivity of over 250 feet from 
Harper's Ferry down to the Great Falls, it is possible, and 
will doubtless prove profitable to fit up one or more im- 
mense basins or reservoirs in some one or more of the val- 
leys above, wherein a sufficiency of the surplus flow dur- 
ing the more aquarius seasons may be turned and so con- 
verted as to double the power throughout the dry seasons. 



thereby perpetuating all necessary power the year round 
for all time. 

As we improve this water power and begin concentrat- 
ing manufactories thereat, steam power will, of course, 
be brought to cooperate in more general productions. 
The manufacture of pig-iron, as well as steam-carriage 
rails, machinery, fire-arms, and all kinds of metal instrji- 
ments, must necessarily follow the adequate dev^elopment 
of the Great Falls, since it is in the midst of, and in 
communication with, inexhaustible fields of superior (piali- 
ties of ore, and a superabundance of the best qualities of 
smelting coal — all easy of access. 

In the increasing demand for better railway tracks the 
observant mind cannot fail to see a very large, important, 
and lucrative business in the manufacture of a continuous 
rail, comparatively without joints, by virtue of its tubulous 
intersections, which secures to the traveler and live stock 
in transitu^ not only ease, comfort, and safety, but double 
the speed afforded by the present system of rails, from 
which, it is safe to state, tliat seven-tenths of the railroad 
accidents occur. And surrounded as we are by iron and 
coal, and open to, and in communication, either by water 
or rail, with the divers railroad lines, throughout the coun- 
tr}^ we feel safe in predicting that an extensive 
Itranch of this manufacture will, at no distant day, 
be established at the Great Falls. But the chief sta- 
ples for manufactures at this point is cotton, wool, 
and wood. And, as will be seen within the following 
pages, we have the most direct and unbroken lines of 
easy and cheap transportation, both by water and rail, 
from the vast cotton fields of the South, whereby the raw 
material can be placed at our factories at much less cost 
than at any other important manufacturing poirit, and in 
fact, about as cheap as it can be placed at New Orleans. 



With regard to wool it may be correctly stated tliat 
both the Virginias are most admirabl^y naturally adopted 
to the growing of this very indispensible article. Intact, 
it is conceded l)y all who are well informed on the subject, 
that for wool-growing the Virginias are equal to, if they 
do not excel, all other sections within our reach. And 
there is no portion of these States more suitable for sheep- 
raising than that surrounding the Great Falls. Nature 
supplies the forage in the wild uncultivated state, leaving 
the shepherd only to guard his flocks and gather in his 
w.ool at comparatively little cost. Wool-growing is daily 
becoming more important, and hence, rapidly increasing 
in the Virginias. 

Ample quantities of wood for cabinet and all kinds of 
manufacture from this material abound at and about this 
point, and convenieutlj' along the several lines of trans- 
portation. So, also, heavier timber, not only for home con- 
sumption, but for abutidantly supplying foreign markets. 
Though there is now hut little production of hemp, flax, 
&c., there is no reason wh}- it should not become an 
important stapk^ of manufacture at this point. 

AVheat, as a matter of course, is to become one of our 
great staples of manufacture from the fact that we are 
surrounded by some of the most fertile wheat-growing 
sections, and by railway's directly in communication with 
others equally productive. 

On the Virginia side of the Potomac, adjacent to the 
Great Falls, we have one of the most picturesque sites, 
with all necessary conveniances for founding, and material 
for building, a large and prosperous city. And as every 
water-power developed and practically emploj-ed in manu- 
facturing necessarily founds, builds, and populates a 
city adjacent thereto, we may safely assert that a 
flourishing city will speedily follow the ade(j[uate develop- 



ment of this great and advantageously-located water 
power. In fact, it has been laid down as a safe propo- 
sition that a population of 1,0 00. will accrue to every 166 
horse-power actually employed in textile or equivalent 
manufactures. 

The Merimac Falls, at Lowell, Mass., has about 9,000 
horse-power ; and by its development we find 40,928 
population, annually yielding a value of $21,000,000 in 
manufactures ; and this population, with its enterprises, 
increasing at about the rate of ten per centum per 
annum. Lawrence, much younger than Lowell, and with 
less power, has already a population of 30,000, with a 
corresponding annual valuation. Fall River, with only 
1,600 horse-power, and which, in 1860, had only a popu- 
lation of 11:,026, numbered at the last canvass 26,766, 
with an annual valuation of $17,000,000. Within the 
last few years steam-power has been brought into coo[)er- 
ative use at this place, which, of course, gives a greater 
impetus to the growth of this thriving locality. 

The Androscoggin Mills at Lewiston, Me., which com- 
menced operations in 1860 with $1,000,000 capital stock, 
under the management of Amos D. Lockwood, Esq., 
having 800 horse-power, running two mills with five 
(Turbine) water wheels, 1,100 looms, aggregating 50,000 
spindles, employs, in nianufacturing cotton, 788 ft,i, ales 
and 312 males; and, though more or less impeded through 
the dry and frozen seasons, annaally produces 6,500,000 
yards of cloth and 1,800,000 grain bags, besides other pro- 
ductions. 

The Great Falls Manufacturing Company of Virginia, 
which organization exists by virtue of valid charters 
from both the States of Virginia and Maryland, now 
own the Great Falls water-power of the Potomac. And, 
in addition to this power, the company owns about 900 



acres of land adjoining thereto on the Virginia side, 
together with the islands between the channels, and the 
land privileges along the waters' edge on the Maryland 
side of the river. The charters provide that, for city and 
other purposes, the company have the i-ight to acquire, 
own, and control 2,000 acres more on the Maryland side, 
and 3,000 acres more on the Virginia side of the Poto- 
mac, adjoining their present propert}^ And the charters 
also provide for developing the water-powers for manu- 
facturing purposes, the founding and building the city, 
and l;)ridging the Potomac thereat. 

There is also a canal (belonging to the company) over 
one mile in length, leading out of, and along the line of 
the river, through the lands of the company, and em[)ty- 
ing back into the river below the Great Falls, which was 
dug out and built up years ago, and, with repairs, Avill 
prove valuable for milling purposes. 

The 900 acres now owned by the company, as well as 
that adjoining and to be acquired, lies well for the base 
of a city. And after appropriating about 200 acres there- 
of, along the line of the river, as will best suit for mill 
purposes, we propose laying out the remaining 700 acres 
with such other as may be found necessary, and proceed 
to build a city upon the most improved plan, guaranteeing 
health, convenience and beauty. And to this end it is 
suggested that the streets shall square Avith the four points 
of the compass. Those running east and west to be 
100 feet wide, reserving twenty feet on either side for 
parking in front of the houses, and leaving ten feet for 
sidewalk and forty feet for roadway. The cross streets 
running north and south to be sixty feet wide, reserving 
ten feet on either side for sidewalks, and forty feet for 
roadway. .Each square fronting 600 feet on the streets run- 
ning east and west, and about 300 feet on the cross streets, 



reserving fifteen feet for alleys through the centre of each 
square, from east to west and north to south. The lots 
fronting on the east and west streets to be 25 by 135 feet, 
exclusive of the reservation for parks in front ; and the 
owners of each lot to keep their respective park-front set 
in green turf, growing shrubbery, &c. 

By some such plan the 700 acres alone will furnish 
about 125 squares of 48 lots each, aggregating about 600 
building lots, (making due allowance for waste ground,) 
which, at $100 per lot, would give us $600,000. This will 
suffice to show what may be realized by a judicious dis- 
position of the ground, whatever may be the plan adopted. 

In regard to building and other material, ample supplies 
of superb marble and granite, and choice seneca or sand, 
blue, and other l)uilding and pavino- stone, as well as brick 
and tire-clay and cement abound at and within the 
vicinity of the Great Falls. And, as has been previously 
remarked, at and around the Great Falls, and along the 
lines of the canal and converging railways there is no lack 
of choice wood and timber of various kinds, not only for 
all needful purposes in home consumption, but for other 
American as well as foreign markets. Gold has been 
discovered to exist at this point, but, as yet, not suffi- 
cient to authorize working some of the veins. The soil, 
not only around this point but more or less throughout 
the^ States of Virginia and Maryland, abound in mica, 
silica, alumni, "terra cotta," concrete, soap-stone, blue and 
potter's clay, and divers elements of earthenware and 
glass, and other productions necessary to private and 
public improvements. 

There will be no lack of skilled and unskilled labor for 
ever}^ grade and class of work to be performed, save in 
regard to cotton-s} tinning, weaving, &c. This, however, 
can be easily supplied by emigrating a few skilled hands 



10 

from jSTew England or Great Britain, from whom onr 
people can soon acquire the requisite skill. And it is 
certain that when the present, or any, other company, 
composed of people capacitated, and who Avill manifest 
an earnest determination to develo[)e and convert this 
power to manufacturing, their capital stock will be most 
liberally taken. In fact, the combined good will and 
zealous cooperation of this entire section will be most 
substantially given. 

THE REASON WHY 

this great water-power has so long remained undeveloped 
has been mainly owing to the adverse influences of the 
institution of slaver}-. The p(?ople of the slave States, 
owing to their [)eculiar callings and business and social 
education, lacked the requisite practical genius to such 
development ; and as they found it ditiicult to procure 
it, save in the brain of the Abolitionist — the avowed 
vigilent foe of chattel slavery — they preferred to let their 
water-powers run waste and ship their cotton and wool to 
ISTew England and Great Britain for manufacture. 

Years ago, prior to the development of the falls of the 
Merrimac river, from which grew up the city of Lowell, 
the same parties who inaugurated that enterprise offered 
$300,000 for the Great Falls water-power of the Potomac, 
but the owners refused to sell at any price. These owners 
eventually died, and the property changed hands, and was 
finally offered for improvement; whereupon, just prior to 
the late war, a company was duly organized, but failed to 
get under way before the war frustrated their plans. 

The adverse effects of slavery has gone with the ill-fated 
institution, never more to disturb the march of industrial 
and intellectual progress. And now this invaluable prop, 
crty is again offered, with largely increased advantages, 
for development and practical use. 



11 

In regard to 

EMIGRATION, 

this vicinity, and, in fact, more or less of the entire 
States of the Virginias and Maryland are open to, and 
anxious for, industrial emigrants from any and all portions 
of the civilized world. Fertile lands can be secured very 
cheap and on the most favorable terms, and in (juantities 
to suit almost any class of emigrants. 

The old prejudices growing out of the elements of 
slavery, and which more bitterly operated immediately 
after the war, having irrecoverably lost their animosit^^are 
necessarily giving place to the reciprocal relations which 
tend to the recognition of the common brotherhood of 
man. This is not only natural in the order of intellectual 
progress, but the legitimate work of self-interest, which 
is ever the prime actuator of mankind in the correspond- 
ing relations of society. While we sustained and cherished 
slavery it was to our interest to shut out any and all 
influences likely to impair our legal rights therein. But 
now that this institution is forever happily gone from 
our country, and its hitherto retarding influences are fast 
dying out, we find it absolutely to our interest to court 
the emigration of the enterprising industrial classes from 
any and all sections. 

With regard to the city of Washington, which must 
always sustain a very important relation to our new rival 
city soon to loom up at the Great Falls, the " Report of 
the Joint Committee on Manufactures of the Legislative 
Assembly of the District of Columbia," published June 
11, 1872, from wliich we quote freely, calls attention to 
the well-known fact that Washington and her adjoining 
sister city, Georgetown, are situated at the head of ship 
navigation on tlie Potomac, only eighty miles from Ches- 
apeake bay, and but one hundred and forty-five miles from 
the Atlantic, by a channel open at all seasons of the 



12 

year, tlirougli which ships of at least nineteen feet draught 
of water can come to the whai'ves at Washington, and 
those of the laro-est tonnaij-e to the wliarves at Alexandria, 
only four miles away from our docks, and adds, that slight 
dredging of the channel betsveen Georgetown, Washing- 
ton, and Alexandria would afford a depth of water easily 
and cheaply maintained for all vessels that might, by any 
possibility, be needed for our commerce or other purposes. 
During the late war, fleets of vessels of the largest size lay 
in the secure anchorage of the Alexandria portion of our 
harbor, and, in fact, at the wharves. Vessels of war of 
more than 2,000 tons now pass to tlie navy -yard adjoining 
the city of Washington. So that a very inconsiderable 
expense would bring like-sized vessels to our wharves 
along our Washington river front. 

It is thus evident that by our merely natural facilities 
we are at once in easy and immediate communication with 
every seaport town along our wide-extended coast, and 
can readily enter upon any scheme of commerce that the 
woi-ld may offer. Our ships and steamers cjin pass as 
swiftly and safely from this port as from Philadelphia or 
Baltimore, and both of these great connnercial marts have 
in other days had a commerce that extended to the Indies 
and China, and "the uttermost parts of the earth." And 
though our harbor is one of the best on the Atlantic slope 
there are measures now on foot, with the appropriations, 
for making it commensurate with the most extensive 
shipping and general commercial interest. 

But however admissable the port and its ready facilities 
for maritime commerce, it is quite certain that this alone 
will not build up a great city. It is an important element 
in our success as affording an easy and available water-car- 
riage to the world — ^always the cheapest method of trans- 
portation. But let us also consider the artificial means, 



13 

such as canals and railroads, for commerce and manufac- 
turing industry. Among the first is the 

CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL, 

which runs ?;fff the Great Falls. Beyond all advantage 
there is to commerce and trade in this water-way, it has 
a peculiar interest in this, that it was the legitimate out- 
growth of the efforts and work of Washington, From 
earliest manhood, in 1753, he was impressed with the ne- 
cessity of water communication between the tide water 
of the Potomac and the great western rivers, and later in 
life he urged the development of plans having this end in 
view, as a matter of national concern, being deeply im- 
pressed with the wisdom of the policy of connecting the 
East with the West by a public highway, of which this 
water communication "was to be the introduction. His 
plan contemplated the improvement of the Potomac nav- 
igation to Fort Cumberland, or the highest practicable 
point, thence to reach, by portage or roadway, the nearest 
tributaries of the Ohio. This grand plan was afterwards 
brought more fully to realization in this canal, which was 
begun in 1828, under and by virtue of statutory enact- 
ments in Virginia, Maryland and the Congress of the 
United States. Though it has opened up the way of 
traffic and trade from a portion of Virginia and Maryland, 
and is the graat course for bringing the vast quantities of 
coal from the Cumberland mines, it is not yet the advan- 
tage to our cit}' that it will be when the new plans we 
hope to see adopted are in full vigor of prosecution. 
After the comjjletion of this canal to Cumberland, the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad was opened to the towns of 
the Ohio river. It was thought then that there would be 
no need of extending the canal further. But experience 
has proved that water-carriage for long distances is 



14 

cheapest, whether on rivers, as the Mississippi or the 
Ohio, or on canals, as the Erie in New York. 

As now bnilt and used the Chesapeake and Ohio canal 
from Georgetown to OumberLand, Marykmd, is 184| miles 
in length, width fifty feet, depth six feet, with a total fall 
of 606 feet, and has cost $10,506,309. But the day of 
canals, in its true meaning, is to come again, anil all that 
Washington hoped, prophesied, or worked for, is yet to 
come true, because the inevitable law of demand will 
render a wide, safe, and clieap water-way to the great 
rivers of the ^ est absolutely necessary. J)evelopment of 
the adjoining States has scarcely begun, while the far 
West, with their great products, must also join in the 
demand for easy, cheap, and direct communication with 
the Atlantic coast. The commerce of West Virginia and 
Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee absolutely languishes for 
this very lack of facility to place their products in market. 
Our railroads answer all these purposes very well, but, in 
the nature of things, they cannot supersede the canal. 
We, therefore, call the public attention to the ojd argu- 
ments, so often urged in 1784, and thence forward, as 
being vastly more important now than then. We call 
attention to the great Erie canal, with all the disadvan- 
tages of months of stoppage every winter on account of 
ice, a deadlock that would hardly interrupt the continual 
use of a water-way in this latitude. And, eventually, the 
Chesapeake and Ohio canal will be extended to the navi- 
gable waters of the Ohio river. 

From a condensed statement, now l)efore us, showing 
the increasing business ahi financial condition of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, it appears that the 
net revenue for 1871 exceeded that of the preceding sea- 
son $197,186 54. 

The expenses of 1871, as compared with 1870, show a 
decrease of $47,134 45. 



15 

Though we have not the exact figures for 1872 before 
us, we are enabled to state that the net revenue shows a 
prosperous increase, witli a corresponding decrease of the 
expenses. In fact the business of this canal has so largely 
increased that the companj' is adopting every means for 
equally increasing its facilities; and when the Great Falls 
shall have been developed, which it is now manifestly 
clear will be done at no distant day, this water-route will 
be deepened and widened commensurate with the demands 
for transportation between Washington and this inevita- 
bly-to-be manufacturing center. 

STEAM-PACKET LINES, ETC. 

Our several steam-packet lines, and other water crafts, 
which relatively appl}^ the same to the Great Falls as 
they do to Washington, furnishes safe, accommodating and 
cheap transportation between this point and Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and ISTorfolk, and via 
Norfolk and Acquia Creek (and thence via rail) with Rich- 
mond and other points along the Atlantic coast. 

The principal article of export by steam-packets and 
other water craft is Hour, of which as much as 98,638 barrels 
have been shipj^ed in one year. In 1871-'72 a new and 
increasing article of commerce (sumac) has been largely 
shipped by this line from Virginia — in fact as much as 
eight}^ tons per annum having been forwarded within the 
past two years. With the increase of domestic enterprise 
ther§ is every reason to believe that these exportations 
will be enormously increased. 

We may remark here that the value of the flour pro- 
duction of the District for 1871 amounted to $2,000,000, 
and the amount of wheat represented in this supply was 
about 787,000 bushels. In 1872 the value of the exporta- 
tion of this product was aboi^t $3,000,000. It may also be 



16 

stated that the lumber traflic is by no means inconsiderable. 
During the years 1871 and 1872 over 25,620,000 feet were 
brought hither in schooners. The value of this trade for 
those years was over $700,000, and this year a very large 
increase is anticipated. This fact of itself shows how 
great a field is open for the manufacture of lumber in the 
forests available in our more immediate neighborhood. 

RAILROADS. 

Until lately our railroad system has been somewhat 
inefficient, there being but one, and that a branch line, 
via Baltimore, by which we could claim a connection with 
the JSTorth and East, and, indirectlj', with the West; and 
only one line, the Orange and Alexandria, connecting us 
with the South. But now several new roads have con- 
verged, and are still converging at and passing tln-ough, 
and others starting from Washington, rapidly putlflig us 
in direct and easy communication with all the agricul- 
tural, mineral, and commercial sections. 

By way of the Washington and Alexandria branch 
road, which connects us with the Orange and Alexandria 
railway, we are connected with the Alexandria and Ma- 
nassas Gap, and the Loudon and Hampshire roads, both 
of which extend through richly fertile sections of. the 
Old Dominion. 

The Baltimore and Potomac liailroad Company has 
constructed a line of railway, under charter granted by 
the State of Maryland and the Congress of the United 
States, extending from the line of the Northern Central 
railway, on the east side of the city of Baltimore, to the 
city of Washington and across the Potomac river to the 
Virginia shore ; also to a point twenty-four miles south 
of Baltimore, through the lower counties of Maryland to 
the Potomac river, at the mouth of Pope's Creek. The line 



17 

secures a direct railroad connection for ruilwa}' carriages 
through tlie Northern Central railway, with the vast 
system of roads west, northwest, and to the I'acific, con- 
trolled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and by 
its I^orthern Central connections with the great coal, iron, 
and lumber regions of Pennsylvania, the western sections 
of Xew York, and the lakes, and the dominion of Canada ; 
also by the Union Railroad of Baltimore an uninterrupted 
connection for locomotive engines, with the system of 
roads to Philadelphia, New York, and the whole eastern 
section of our country. 

By the reconstruction of the Long bridge across the 
Potomac for railway purposes at Washington, and the 
construction of the Alexandria and Fredericksburg rail- 
road to a connection with the Richmond, Fredeiicksbnrg, 
and Potomac railroad, an uninterrupted connection is 
secured'with the system of Southern railroads converging 
at R.ichmond, Virginia. Washington, by way of the Bal- 
timore and Potomac, secures a competing line to all sec- 
tions of our vast countrj-, and this, with unbroken con- 
nections, upon which [laSsengers and freight can be moved 
by steiftii without transfer or break of bulk, to all other 
sections of the countr\\ And especially by this line, with 
its divers tributaries convei'<jjino- at Richmond, together 
with the Orange and Alexandria railway, which is con- 
nected, via railway from Cliarlottesville to Lynchlmrg, 
with the Virginia and Tenu'issee railroad, we have direct 
and unbroken lines to the vast cotton, rice, sugar, tobacco, 
and other productive fields of the South and Southwest. 

The line has been built, as we learn, in the best manner 
and at great cost ; the work in Washington costing about 
a million of dollars, and the tunnel under Baltimore 
nearly two millions. 

The projectors of this enterprise expect to draw to it a 
2 G F 



18 

large and growing trade, owing to tlie perfect eonnectioTiB 
it secures with the great Pennsylvania trunk lines of rail- 
waj's to all western jioints, b}' the I^s'^rthern Central and 
Philadelphia and Erie, with ^Buffalo, JSTiagara Falls, the 
lakes and Canada, and the great coal, iron, and lumber 
regions of Pennsylvania. By conTieetions with the South- 
ern sj^stem of roads, south of Richmond, an outlet by rail 
will.be attbrded for the great staple productions of that 
section of the country. The amount of coal seeking 
Washington bj^ this road will reach at least 100,000 tons, 
and, with the growth of the city, and the improvement of 
the Great Falls, it will rapidlj^ increase Our people will 
henceforth be enabled to get this staple article every day 
in the year, in cars loaded directly at the niines. 

The conr.ections with fast express trains, with palace 
and sleeping cars, running through to the JSTorth and West 
and South, with ample accommodations for local traffic, 
wi-ll doubtless secure to the enterprise a large and increas- 
ing passenger business. 

There can be no rpiestion of the great importance of this 
new line to the capital of tlie nation ; it secures uninter- 
rupted communication with, and facilities to and from, 
points never heretofore enjoyed by us, and the tendency will 
inevitably be to draw more attention to Washington and 
vicinity as the great political, social, and manufacturing 
center of the country, and its growth must be rapid. With 
the establishment hereof repair and workshops of this enter- 
prising compau}^ a large accession of excellent citizens — 
skilled workmen in wood and metals — will be made. The 
happiness, securit\-,and comfort of this class of citizens it 
should bo a prime object of the Legislative Assembly to 
insn re by wise and careful legislation. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, now completed to 
('atletsburg, at the mouth of the Big Sandy river, 150 



19 

miles above Cincinnati, and 350 miles below Pittsburg on 
the Ohio river, is an additional and highl}^ important link 
in the chain of communication with the far West. 

At present we connect with this road only by way of 
the Orange and Alexandria railway at Charlottesville ; 
but ere long we are to 'have a more direct line hy way 
of the Piedmont and Potomac railwa}', which starts from 
Washington and, doubtless, ?;«( the line of the Aqueduct 
road, and crossing the Potomac at the Great Falls, and 
thence on, via Aldie,,to Staunton, Va., thereby shortening 
the route to Staunton thirty miles. 

This connection with the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad 
will o'ive us the shortest communication with the West 
and Southwest, making the most direct line between St. 
Louis and New York, the distance saved being estimated 
at not less than 140 miles. It will also connect us with 
that great system of railroads reaching the Pacific ocean, 
of which the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad will be the 
eastern terminus at Staunton, or rather by the Piedmont 
and Potomac road, via the Great Falls, at Washington. 

The country with which we shall be brought into com- 
munication l)y the Piedmont and Potomac railroad is one 
of surpassing fertility. It is to traverse the counties of 
Loudon, Fauquier, Iv&,ppahannock, Page, Rockingham, 
and Augusta, (in Virginia,) all within the rich blue grass 
rigion of that State. 

On its line are to be found coal in abundance and 
iron in immense quantities and of rare quality ; marble 
not more than thirty miles distant from Washington, and 
within ti^fteen miles of the Great Falls, equal to that im- 
ported from Italy, at a large profit; while salt, lead, gyp- 
sum, lime, and petroleum abound on the lines witli which 
it connects. This, making both the national ca[iital and the 
Great Falls important points on the shortest line of travel 



20 

from Cincinnati and St. Louis to the Xorth, will lead to 
a large increase of population and wealth at both of these 
points, which has hitherto avoided us because of the re- 
puted greater cost of living-^an objection now exploded. 

This company proposes large expenditures in our city, 
as its workshops, foundry, and car* works are to l)e located 
here, and it is, in short, to be a Washington institution. 

The Alexandria and Fredericksburg railroad will bring 
to us, as purchasers, the residents of the peninsula south 
of us in Maryland ; and the Point of Rocks railroad, which 
will eventually connect hy branch or cross-road with the 
Great Falls, will open to us for competition with Balti- 
more the trade of those counties of Maryland nortli of us. 

The Washington and Point Lookout railway opens the 
whole region of Maryland between the Potomac and 
Chesapeake Bay to our manufacturers and merchants, and 
afford us easy connection with one of the most healthful 
and beautiful regions of the State of Maryland. And by 
our several lines of railway we directly^ reach the iron 
supply in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, ' 
and Maryland, the abundant and fine wood of Virginia, 
and all the corn and wheat, cattle, and farm produce for 
home use and for commerce, while, by the deep and Inroad 
river and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, we may bring 
to the Great Falls every article of foreign production. 

In addition to these railroads there are divers other 
lines about to, and, sooner or later, inevitabb' will, be con- 
structed, which will greatly favor our projected develop- 
ment of the vast water power of the Potomac, and espe- 
cially at the Great Falls, where we are determined to 
found, build, and populate a city commensurate with the 
spirit of the times. 

It is now understood that the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 



21 

road Company arc proceeding to build a railway from 
Laurel, on the Washington branch of their road, via 
Rockville, and thence across the Potomac, (and probably,) 
at the Great Falls, through the Blue Ridge, vi<t Snickers 
Gap, connecting with their line extending from Harper's 
Ferry, via Winchester, down the Shenandoah valley. 
And, in order to compete -with the line of the Piedmont 
and Potomac and Chesapeake and Ohio railroads, which 
form the most direct line West yet established, they will 
doubtless continue the direct line from Laurel, via Snick- 
er's Gap, on to Grafton or Flemington, or some other atr- 
line [»oint of the western branch of the Baltimore and 
Ohio railway, whereby the}' can still shorten the route via 
Cincinnati to St. I^ouis over 100 miles. 

COAL. 

Coal being one of the chief factors of the manufacturing 
interest, it is important that we consider the supply in 
our vicinity and convenient reach. Thus far it is equal 
to the demand ; .but when new channels shall have been 
opened for transportation, and larger consumption re- 
quired, the product may be increased in an immensely 
enlarged ratio. We give below a table showing the pro- 
duct for a series of years of the Cumberland coal regioii. 
This properly belongs to the great Allegheny coal field, 
and includes the F'rostl)urg basin, about live miles wide 
and thirty miles long, (giving an area of 150 square 
miles,) and that lying Itetween the Savage mountain and 
Negro mountain, containing about 130 square miles, and 
the trough or basin of the Youghiogheny, between Xegro 
mountain and Laurel hill, containing about 250 square 
miles, making a total area of this coal field in Maryland 
about 550 square miles. The coal of this region is, taken 
to market, in Washington, by the Chesapeake and Ohio 



22 



canal, or to Baltimore by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 
The followiuii- is the table referred to : 



Year. 


'I'oiuiai^e by 
raili-oad. 


Tonnnsi-o by 
canal. 


Total. 


1S4-2 '. 


1,708 

24.65;^ 

192,806 

478,486 

493,031 

377,684 

500,293 

736,1.53 

735.669 

848,118 

1,230,518 

1,112.938 

1,494,814 

1,866,699 




1,708 


184r) 




24,6.53 


1850 

ISof) 


3,042 
183,786 
283.249 
260,368 
340,736 
344,160 
458,009 
484,849 
661.828 
606,707 
850,339 
1,093,971 


196,848 
662,272 


1860 


788,909 


1804 


636,236 


1865 ;.. 


903,495 


18(i6 

1867 


1,079,331 
1,193.822 


1868.. 

1869 


1.330,443 

1.882,669 


1870 

1871 


1,717,075 
2,345,153 


1872 


2,973,233 



Note. — These amounts liave sometimes included the coal used on or 
along- the railroad. 

This coal was afforded in our markets, in 1850, at re- 
tail, for consumption, at $5 per ton, and, in 1871, at $6 
for the lump. The cost by the quantity, according to the 
statement of large consumers in our city, iron-founders, 
machinists, and the like, has averaged, for years to the 
present time, at the wharf, from $3 50 to $4 25 per ton. 
At this writing, we are informed, it is about $4 per ton. 
In addition to all this supply, which is almost at our 
own hands, the quick communication by railroad, 2;^ Gor- 
donsville, with the vast coal fields in the xsTew River and 
Kanawha valleys of West Virginia, will bring to our 
wharves and workshops any amount of the s[)lint and can- 
nel coals. It is estimated that the coal territory in these 
valleys have an extent of over 600 square miles. This is 
wider than the fields which supply the vast industries 
and commerce of Great Britain — demands which amount 
to more than 1 00,000,000 tons annually. The great bitu- 
minous coal basin of the geologists, extending northward 



23 

to the head-waters of the Hockhoeking river, near Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, southeast to the Peak of Otter, iu V'ir- 
ffinia, uortheast to the middle of w-estern reiinsylvapia, 
and southwest to the Muscle Shoal, iu northern Alabama, 
irregular iu its entire length, 800 miles, and width from 
30 to 180 miles, covers an art-a of 55,000 s(iuare miles, of 
which 1,800, contained in A^irginia, hold the great center 
with respect to quantit}- and quality, whether cannel, 
splint, or bituminous coaJ. The Kanawha river runs 
through these beds, and so does the (yet unfinished) 
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad ; so also, it may be said, 
does everj' road or stream in West \^irginia. In' one 
place, we are informed, the Chesapeake and Ohio raih'oad 
cuts an eleven-foot vein. The Virginia coal used, by esti- 
mate, would jdeld 45,000 tons per acre, or 28,800,000 tons 
per square mile. 

It is more easily mined than other coal, because of the 
prodigious thickness of the veins, (from three to fifteen 
feet,) their horizontal position, and the comparative ab- 
sence of noxious gases and volatile fumes. JS"o shaft min- 
ing, machine lifting, pumping, or the like are necessary in 
working them. 

With regard to quality the Virginia coal beds are "fat." 
That they are superior has been demonstrated b}- experi- 
ence, but more nicely by accurate analysis. One of the 
results is here noted : Tlie amount of ash residue left upon 
analysis amounts to but two per cent. The only other 
coal approaching this was the Snow-shoe coal of Pennsyl- 
vania, of limited suppl \', whicVi gave 2.07 per cent. Other 
approved coal showed the true contrast. For example : 
The Phillipsburg yielded 10 per cent. ; Frostburg, 11 
per cent. ; and the Maryland Company coal, 15.82 per 
cent., or nearly eight times that of the Kanawha coal. 

As to uses, tlie splint coal, nowhere so abundant as in 
Virginia, is known to surpass any other for smelting ores, 
particularly iron ore. The uses of bituminous coal for 



24 

manufacturing gas, driving machinery, and for fuel need 
no illustration, Cannel coal, besides its other uses, is 
likelj^ to supplant wells as a source of petroleum. The 
Kanawha yields sixty-four gallons of crude oil per ton, 
equal to 1,260,000 gallons per acre. 

The fact is seldom adverted to that, from the deficiency 
of shorter water transportation, great quantities of the 
Kanawha coal is boated to New Orleans, and thence tran- 
shipped by sea all the way to Xew Yoi'k. 

The two great factors in building up a manufacturing 
town are coal and iron. We have already shown that 
scarcely a point now known in the world has more admir- 
able locations relative to a vast supply of coal, easy means 
of access, and water transportation for commerce, than 
the city of Washington ; and what is, or can be, said in 
this resi^ect as to Washington must soon apply to the 
Great Falls ; and as these different classes of coal are so 
near at hand, available in such immense quantities, and 
can be so readily brought to this market, it is evident 
that, for every purpose of commerce, for manufacturing 
or domestic use, they can be afforded in more abundant 
sui)ply and at lower prices than at any place along the 
coast, or at any other point available for water shipment. 

The supply and consumption of the several kinds of coal 

in the United States and the amount exported therefrom 

annually, sums up per year, for the last two years, about 

as follows: 

AtiMr.-acilc sent to market, (official) 14,065.501 

Coiisninofl in the coal regions (estimated) •2,720,000 

Bituminous sent toward seaboard, iucUuling- 44;>,9.")rj tons 

imported, (official) 4,805,914 

Bituminous mined and consumed in the United States, 

(estimat(d> 11,500,000 

y4,usi,4]r, 

Exported 269,751 

Total supply for United States 33,811,664 



25 

This would exhaust one square mile, or, iti other words, 
one-eighteen-thousandth of the Virginia coal beds per 
annum. This much foi- quantity. 

IRON, 

This indispensible article lies in considerable quantities 
at and around the Great Falls, but when you cross the 
Blue Ridgeand strike the Shenandoah river along through 
Warren, Page, Rockingham, and other counties, it is to 
he found in abundance, and of a superior quality; and along 
parallel 39, the probable route of the next air-line rail- 
way to St. Louis, it is still more abundant. 

The ISTew river, rising in iSTorth Carolina, becomes the 
Kanawha after crossing the Alleghenies, and receiving 
the Greenbrier river in the neighborhood of the White 
Sulpher. Above that region coal diminishes and iron in- 
creases. New river might be called an iron-clad stream. 
Giles, Bland, Pulaski, and Grayson are among the richest 
iron counties, though crossing to the waters of Tennessee 
(Clinch and llolston rivers) the mountains are everywhere 
affluent with ore, not always without coal for utilizing it. 
As Horace Greeley remarked in an article which ap- 
peared in The Tribune (October 21, 1871,) on this general 
subject: "In most counties of either Virginia, excellent 
coal or ore (often both in close proximity) can now be 
bought at prices ranging from $5 to $15 per acre. Many 
of the acres have a rich, deep virgin soil, with a splendid 
growth of forest trees covering two-thirds to three-fourths 
of them— lands which, in Pennsylvania, would be deemed 
dirt-cheap at $1,000 per acre. Who can doubt that free 
labor with railroads will soon give a hke value to the 
mineral lands of old and West Virginia ? " And we may 
here call attention to the fact that the iron ores of Vir- 



26 

giiiia and West Virginia are considered among the best 
in the worhl, and are found in unliniited quantities upon 
the immediate line of raih'oad communication witn most 
unusual facilities for. their profitable working. The coal 
and iron accessible are estimated to exceed in quality and 
amount those of the whole of Great Britain, and with 
this special advantage, that, unlike those uf that country, 
they are found near the surface of the earth and can be 
readily mined. In our sources of sup[)ly the expense of 
production is, as near as possible, the minimum, from the 
very ease from which the material is dug and laid down 
at the point of shipment. In Grreat Britain it is estimated 
that there is invested in pits and machinery a capital 
amounting to upward of $200,000,000, and all practically 
dead capital. In these mines the laws of gravity furnish 
easy drainage, ventilation, and carriage. 

By a circular put forth in the Kanawha iron region, 
which has recently fallen under our notice, we learn that 
a ton of iron can be there produced for $15. Now, as 
coal can be laid down here at from $4 to $4 '^O per ton, 
and the ore at a similar low figure, it is demonstrable that 
iron can be produced here at from §20 to $25 per ton, and 
thus laid down, as it were, in a market where it readily 
brings from $50 to $55 per ton to-day. 

CLIMATICS, ETC. 

As of incalculable importance, in view of building up a 
manufacturing city, we would call attention to the climate 
and the circumstances affecting the health of a papulation. 
With but a single exception it is proven that the country 
about WaiShington is among the most healthful sections 
of America, and that exception is malaria, which, along 
the lower. water of the Potomac, has been somewhat 
troublesome, but wliich at Washington is no longer prev- 



27 

alent, and at the Great Falls almost, and will entirely, 
disappear Avith the vigorous growth of a well-drained, 
ventilated city. 

What we quote in this connection, from the report pre- 
viously referred to, relative to the District of Columbia, 
has, in every particular, increased advantages when ap- 
plied to the region of the Great Falls as being more 
elevated, more undulating, and abundantly supplied with 
springs of pure, cool water. 

The best test in this regard is that of facts. We pre- 
sent here a table of the death rate of this city, compared 
with that of the few cities whence data of any reliabiUty 
can be procured : 

'I'lie (Icatli rate of Washinston, per 1,000, averao^cs 20 

Philadelphia. " '• 22 

New York, " " , 28 

Bobtoii, • " 23 

'' " St. Louis, " " 27 

'" " Cincinnati. '" "■ 26 

■? •' < hicaji^o. "■ '' 25 

There is yet another very important fact to which we 
may quite pertinently refer here, and that is the almost 
total immunity of Washington from epidemic diseases. 
Kever but once has it suffered at all, and then (during the 
cholera visitation of 1832) it is well known that the dis- 
ease was not only less general, but was much less virulent, 
than in any other city in the country. 

Not to attempt a scientific dissertation on the probable 
causes of this immunity and the general healthiness of this 
city, we will advert to only two of them, namely, the com- 
plete ventilatio.n by our wide streets and avenues, and the 
remarkable purity of our water supply. A distinguished 
writer recently said: "The evil consequences of an im- 
pure supply " (and we may add, per contra, the blessings of 
au abundant supply,) " of pure water, is deserving of the 



28 

most serioiLS consideration." Scientific investigation lias 
shown that the health of communities cannot possibly be 
assared where the water supplied for drinking purposes is 
impure. So true is this that carefully prepared estimates, 
made during- the prevalence of an epidemic, show that in 
the city of London, which is supplied with water procured 
from different sources, the rate of mortality increased in 
the different sections of the city in direct ratio to the 
degree of impurity of the water supplied to them. For 
instance, in London, in 1854, the water supplied by the 
Lambeth Company was very free fi'om contamination, 
while that supplied b3'ithe Southwark Compan}- contained 
much sewage. Both companies had pipes laid in the same 
streets, and the water was supplied indiscriminately. 
Among those who used the Southwark water, the deaths 
amounted to 130 in 10,000, and 2,500 persons were de- 
stroyed by it in one season. Among those who used the 
Lambeth water, the deaths amounted to only 37 in 10,000. 

As to the impurities of which we speak, it should be 
stated that we refer to the presence of organic matter, 
and not to the calcium and magnesium salts, for instance, 
which, within certain limits, are considered innocuous. 
It has been incontrovertibly afHrmefl, after the most 
searching investigation, that multitudes of diseases whose 
causes were long considered occult, owe their origin to tlie 
presence of impurities in the water used for drinking [air- 
poses. In view of these facts, then, it can hardly be 
questioned that we are largely indebted to the very pure 
water with which we are supplied for the high sanitary 
condition of the city. 

We give below a tabular statement showing the quality 
of our own water supply as compared with that of some 
others. All but the estimate of the Potomac water we 
copy from Professor C. F. Chandler's lecture c/U water, 
delivered before the American Institute of New York : 



20 



City. 



AViishington 

New'Yoi'k 

New York 

New York 

New York 

Brooklyn 

Boston 

Pliihitklpliia 

Pliiludclphii 

Albany 

Trov 

Utica 

Syracuse . 

("lcv«^lan(l 

('liicau'o 

llochfstcr 

Soheneofaily 

Newark I 

Jei-sey City j 

Hobokcn ( 

Hiulsoii City J 

Trenton 

London 

Dublin 

Paris 

Amst^erilam 



Source. 



Organic 

and volatile 

matter. 



Wasihintiton supply 

(/rotonaverajic for thirteen weeks in 1867. 
''rotoii averaii'e Tor three months in 1868. 
Croton avera.<re for six niontlisin ]8r>9... 

\Veli west of' Central Paik .' 

i;i(lgewo(p(l 

Cocliitnate. (E. N. Hoi-sford) 

Fainnount 

Delaware 

llvih-ant.. 

Hydrant 

Hydrant 

New ]-esprvoir 

Lake Erie 

I..ake Micliiiian 

Genesee river 

State street well 



Passaic river, 



Delaware river. 

'I'haiiies 

TjOugh'Vartry 

Seine 

River Vecht.... 



0.54 
0.66 
1.14 

0.67 
4 oo 
O.oi) 
0.7! 
1.20 
on 
2.31 
1.34 
0.96 
1.80 

1.06 
1.23 
2.33 

2. 86 

0..5u 
0.83 
1.34 
1.00 
2.13 



NOTK. — The above estimates are calculated for one gallon of 231 
cubic inches. 

J^ext as to tlie iutluence of temperature upon labor, 
we give here a table showing the temperature of Wash- 
ington beside that of other cities, first giving an exhibit, 
furnished by the courtes}' of the Chief Signal Officer of the 
Arni\', of the mean temperature of the District of Colum- 
bia, for winter, spring, summer, and autumn since 1860 : 



Months. 


.1 


Months. 


.1 

3 - 


Months. 


S 'S 


Months. 




December... 

.JaiiiNiry 

February .... 

Winter 


35. 4 
32.8 
34.7 

.34. 3 


March 

Auril 


41.0 
52. 1 
63.4 

52.3 


June 

July 

August 

Summer. . .. 


70.9 
75. 5 
74.3 

73.6 


Sep.tvmber.. 

October 

November.. 

Autumn 


68.3 
55, 6 


May 

Spring 


45.4 
5G.4 



30 



This gives us a mean temperature of 54,15'^, which 
varies from Blodgett's isothermal charts by only 0.85°. 

iSTow, with reference to extremes of temjjerature, (^f 
which much has l)een ignorautl}' said to the prejudice of 
Washington, we collate from Blodgett's work reports of 
observations, as follows : 

Years. 

New Beilford, from \^V2 to ]>!5G T 44 

New York City, from 1822 to 1S.")4 , 32 

Alliaiiy, Xew York, from 182(i ro 18o4 28 

I'hUaileJphia, from 1798 U> ISod r,S 

\\asliingtoii aiirl Baitimore, from 1817 to 1855 88 

(^iiiciJinati, fnom 1835 to 1854 It) 

St. Lonis, from 1833 to 1855.... 22 



Extremes of temperature. 

































e-> 














^ 




■=< 


X 
























































s 


.S 


P 

5 


n2 


t^ 


C/ 


>. 


6C 


i 


o 


i 


S 


























• 


■^ 


^ 


^ 


< 


r^ 


~ 


■-r 


<?, 


yj 


O 


^ 


— \ 


New Bedford 


/ 4iJ 
1 7 


49 


oS 


67 


77 


80 


87 


84 


81 


71 


01 


51 




3 


12 


2 b 


37 


46 


i>4 


.i2 


41 


30 


20 


1 


New York City 


(49 


59 


02 


72 


82 


89 


93 


89 


85 


73 


0'2 


50 


1 7 


9 


18 


31 


41 


52 


60 


60 


47 


35 


24 


14 


.\lijaiiy, New York... 


f48 


48 


51 


76 


84 


89 


92 


88 


84 


71 


01 


48 


1-s 


-5 


7 


23 


30 


48 


55 


50 


39 


27 


17 


-1 


I'liihuk^uliia 


{1 


55 


(;8 


78 


85 


91 


93 
(!0 


89 


87 


76 


68 


56 




9 


\i 


2S 


44 


.')0 


;)7 


4.) 


34 


24 


14 




/ 5(j 
1 9 


59 


(>9 


79 


S5 


91 


94 


91 


88 


77 


07 


50 


Wash, and HaUimon'. 


12 


20 


32 


43 


53 


01 


.59 


40 


33 


24 


10 


' 


( n-> 


H4 


7(i 


87 


90 


94 


95 


93 


9t 


81 


71 


61 


Ciiiciiiiiati 


( 3 


4 


15 


27 


39 


49 


57 


55 


41 


28 


18 


8 


St. Louis 


fOl 


65 


75 


86 


90 


95 


9 ; 


95 


92 


82 


71 


60 




t 4 


4 


16 


31 


41 


.)! 


;)S 


i>i 


4-) 


2o 


18 


1 



Note. — In tlie above table tlie upper line of tiirures represents the. 
maximum and tltc lower liie miuimcmi temperature olCaeii eit,y in de- 
e^rees of Fabreuhcit 



The presentation of this table, the result of many years' 



•^1 

careful scientific observation, ought to be enough to satisfy 
the most skeptical mind. 

A glance at the figures will show that the temperature 
of Washington and Philadelphia are almost identical, 
wliile it is interesting to compare their extremes of tem- 
perature Avith those of St. Louis and Cincinnati. 

The maximum and minimum temperature of the two 
cities of Philadelphia and Washington differ, as follows : 



• 




Ol. 


<r. 


< 






1^ 


< 


t 


O 

It 
1- 


> 
o 

1— 


6 


Maxinumi 

Miiiiiuiim 


ft 


-tt 

:^t 


It 

3t 


It 
•It 


1— 


3t 


It 
It 


2t 
•2t 


It 
It 


2] 



XOTE. — Here the sign = shows uiieii they are couieident, f when 
the \Vashin2:ton temperature exceeLls. and — when it is less tiian that 
ul Philadelphia. 

It will be seen that what little difference there is (though 
there is practicall}' none) in the matter of extremes, is in 
favor of Washington — the extremes are less. 

If there is an}^ truth in the statement that Washington 
is an unfavorable place to live in for manufacturing pur- 
poses, it must apply with equal force to Philadelphia, and 
greater to St. Louis and Cincinnati. By far the greater 
number of our best citizens engaged in mechanical and 
industrial enterprises have spent much time in the same 
avocations in Northern cities, and we have their testi- 
mony, that can be relied on, that Washington is far pref- 
erable in this respect to many of the Northern cities. 

But to those who deem the ex;treme summer heats of this 
latitude as unfavoi-able to labor, we would say that the 
days are few in which men, white and black, may not be 
found pursuing their avocations, without inconvenience, 



32 

in the sun. But the }tolnt is : Tiiat, tukiug the year as a 
whole, there are more available days here for (iomfortable 
labor than can be found in any portion of Xew England 
or Xew York — the great manufacturing hives of the con- 
tinent. In fact, the months from September to January, 
and from February to May, a great poi-tion of which are 
cold, wet, stormy, and uncomfortable in the sections named, 
are here the most genial and liealthful of the whole year. 
The testimony of manufacturers and laborers taken be- 
fore this committee were clear on the point that, taking 
the year through, a man can labor more days in the year 
in this latitude than in that of any of the principal towns 
of New England. 

We have thus, even at the risk of seeming prolix, passed 
in review the historj- of this locality, with its past and 
prospective advantages, as bearing on the question before 
us. 

An invaluable auxiliary to the healthfulness of a grow- 
ing city, and more especially a manufacturing city, is the 
quantity, quality, and cost of food, and in this connection 
we quote from the foregoing mentioned report to show 
some advantages of this locality. 

The supply of abundant and excellent food for any pop- 
ulation we may have here for j'ears to come cannot but l)e 
abundant. Consider this region, of so great an extent, so 
admirably adapted to agriculture! The farming land 
within an easj^ day's journey hence, in any direction, has 
scarcely begun to be developed, so that we sot at rest any 
speculation or doul)t as to whither will come food for a 
future population, though largely increased. It is within 
our memory, that, during tlie troubled times of the war, 
for many years the rich Shenandoah and Kanawha val- 
leys were the best sources of supplies of food and cattle 



33 

for the Virginia armies. If these hosts could be fed in the 
turmoil of war and strife, when labor and production were 
at a standstill, it is easy to see that the inducement of 
fair compensation would increase the past supply im- 
mensely. Even before the war these regions were a noted 
source of su[)ply of line cattle to the markets of Baltimore 
and Philadelphia. 

In another connection we have spoken of the capacity 
of this section of country for wool-growing, and here refer 
to the additional facility for supplying mutton — the most 
healthful and cheapest article of animal food. But for 
vegetables, cereals, and fruits, we claim that Virginia 
cannot be excelled. Apples, pears, and peaches are 
nowhere more abundant, or of better quality ; and grapes 
grow wild all over this region in great abundance, and in 
quality equal to the best varieties in our markets. Thus 
atibrding at home articles of luxury, as well as staple, for 
our tables. And while referring to the supply afforded 
by this section of beef and mutton for the markets, it is 
not irrelevant .to mention that it is also lamous — especially' 
the counties of Loudon and Farquier — -for its tine-blooded 
horses, as well as its tine stock of draught animals — both 
horses and mules. All these considerations we deem of 
vital importance as concomitants to the growth and pros- 
perity of a manufacturing city. 

SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON. 

We quote in regard to schools to show the spirit which 
prevails in regard to popular education, the great improve- 
ments made and the determination of the people to attain 
lo a system of public schools not inferior to any in the 
United States ; and to accomplish which, talent, experi- 
ence, and precedent have been borrowed from every State 
3 G F 



34 

of the Union, and the best results from all have attempted 
to be copied: 

Tho Avhitv population of Wa,«Iiiii2:foii in 1870 was 73,744 

" colored '• " '" " '' 35,455 



Tohil 109,199 



White cliiJdivn, between G and 17 years of age, in Wasliingtou 
was ^ 17.403 

Colored children, between Hand 17 years ofaue. in Washington 

was ^ 8,532 

Total 25.935 

From 1802 to 1840 very little was done for public free- 
schools in Washington. During that period there was 
never more than tive hundred children received into what 
was called public schools, and on an average not more 
than three hundred. All the free-schools were then con- 
sidered schools for poor children, and were never popular. 
In 1840 there were but two schools, one in the western 
the other in the eastern district. The whole number of 
pupils received into both was four hundred and thirty- 
two, and the average only two hundred and ninety-six. 
The whole cost of both schools was but $1,500. 

In 1850 the schools had increased in number to fourteen, 
which were taught by fourteen principals and live as- 
sistants. The whole number of pupils received was 1,389, 
while the cost amounted to $7,685 88. 

At the close of the next decade (i860) the number of 
schools had increased to fifty with fifty teachers. 

The number of pupils enrolled amounted to 4,296, and 
the cost was $29,821. At this period there were no pub- 
lic, and only three or four private schools for colored 
children in the city. • But mark the change and })rogress 
in the next ten years. 

In 1870 the number of white schools was one hundred 



35 

and seventeen ; principal teachers, one hundred and seven- 
teen; assistants, six; niasic teachers, two; and German 
teachers, two ; in ail, one hundred and twenty-seven. 
The whole numher or pupils enrolled was 10,753, 

The cost for the white seliools, aside iVoiii new builtlinjjs and 

iuiprovementis, was ... $173,250 

New bnildings and improvements^ 73.500 

Givinij. lor white s( iiool.>-. a total expendilni-.- of §240,750 

In 1870 the number of colored schools was fifty-eight, 
with fifty-eight teachers. 

The number of pupils enrolled was 6,681, which, added 
to the number of white children, (10,753,) gives a total of 
17,434 pupils enrolled. 

Tile whole cost of tlie colored school.s. aside fi-om new^ build- 
ings, &c., amounted to $S3,3(j7 

Add total for wiiite children 240,750 

And we Imve a total expenditure of $330,117 

In Georgetown and the county the change is no less 
marked. The private and charity schools of Washington 
received, in 1870, 6,309, and those of Georgetown, 1,000 
pupils. Thus, 23,743 out of the 25,935 children of school 
age have been enrolled in public or private schools. The 
work is still progressing, and larger, more commodious 
and beautiful school buildings are now being erected than 
we have seen in any city which it has recently been our 
good fortune to visit. 

With churches it is the same. More than ninety difier- 
ent houses dedicated to the worship of God are found in 
the District, where all may worship, with " none to molest 
or make afraid." 

Again, there is scarcely a locality where the education 
of the rising generation is exciting more general interest. 
The population which we invite nmy count upon every 
advantage in this respect for their children. 



36 

We are indebted to Mr. Z. Richards — so lono- a valu- 
able teacher in, aud now Auditor of the District — -for the 
foregoing facts. 

With regard to new private improvements in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, there has been $3,421,265 worth erected 
within the last year, (1872,) nearly all of which are of 
the most comfortable and substantial dwellings and 
business edifices, with modern improvements, and adapt- 
ed to every grade of society. And, happily, our popu- 
lation is correspondingly increasing. In short, the spirit 
of improvements is thoroughly at work in this District, 
and necessarily alive to, and, in self-interest, will most 
earnestly coo})erate with any corresponding measures for 
surrounding or neighboring improvements. 



























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